Clothes pin



Feb. 22, 1966 J, CLARK 3,235,928

CLOTHES PIN Filed April 29, 1964 Fig. 4

INVENTOR Louis J. Clark United States Patent 3,235,928 CLOTHES PIN Louis J. Clark, 840 Nightingale Ave., Miami Springs, Fla. Filed Apr. 29, 1964, Ser. No. 363,404 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-137) This invention relates to clothes pins, one of mans earliest inventions, an invention that has seen many improvements throughout the years, but none in keeping with the progress man has made in other arts.

One of the disadvantages of clothes pins yet produced is their inability to firmly hold clothes on a line after the pin has been in use for some time.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a clothes pin with a locking device that will cause the pin to firmly hold the clothes on a line no matter how old the pin may be or how long it has been left in the elements.

Another object of this invention is to provide a clothes pin with a locking device that will prevent the pin from releasing the clothes it is securing to a line until manually activated.

Another object of this invetnion is to provide a clothes pin having a two piece handle that can operate under any condition.

Another object of this invention is to provide a clothes pin that can be manufactured from wood, plastic or any other desired material with equal ease.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a clothes pin that does not contain any metal parts to corrode or rust.

These and other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will become apparent from the following description wherein reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of this invention in use.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of FIGURE 1 and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of this invention with its looking sleeve shown in section in order to better show the construction of this invention in its entirety.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded pictorial view of the three major parts of this invention ready for assembly.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of this invention taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 2 and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral designates a clothes pin made according to this specification and embodying two basically similar halves (except that one is right-hand and one is left-hand) each of which is called one half of the body and is indicated by the numerals 11 and 12 respectively. Each aforesaid half of the body consists of an outwardly flared upper and rounded end 13 that is the handle portion of the clothes pin, and a horizontally disposed concaved recess 14 that extends from one side 15 to a point midway to the other side 16 where at the just mentioned midway point the configuration changes from a concave recess to a convex projection 17. The concave recess 14 in the half of the body 11 receives the convex projection 17 of the other half of the body 12. This construction is best understood from examination of FIGURE 4 of the drawing where it is also seen that the lower portion of each half of the body is provided with a recess 18 that is trapezoidal when viewed from the front and which is adapted to receive projection 19 that is provided with a curved upper edge 20 and a rounded outer-end 21. The lower end of each half of the body of the clothes pin is provided with a horizontally disposed concave recess 22 that encompasses the clothes line 23 and the clothes C that have been "ice placed on the clothes line 23 and secured firmly in place by this novel invention of a clothes pin as clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing.

Looking now at FIGURE 4 of the drawing it will be seen that this novel clothes pin 10 is provided with a sliding lock 24 that has a hollow rectangular lower end 25 which is provided with a plurality of horizontally disposed grooves 26 that are in equal parallel and vertically spaced relation to each other in order to give ones fingers a better grip on this invention when locking and/or unlocking this clothes pin from any clothesline 23. The upper end of the sliding lock 24 has a smooth parabolic configuration when viewed from the side as well as having open ends. A round bar-like projection 27 is integral with, and located on the inward side 28 of this portion of the sliding lock 24. The purpose of these two projections 27 is to firmly lock the clothes pin 10 to the clothes C by forcing each upper end 13 outward from each other as one can very well see and understand on examination of FIGURE 1 of the drawing where it is seen that when this invention of a clothes pin 10 is assembled each half of the body 11 and 12 pivots about the horizontal axis of the two aforesaid convex projections 17 that are end to end and in line with one another to, for all practical purposes, form the equivalent to the axis of a hinge. It is obvious from a study of the drawing that the two projections 19 (one on each half of the body of the clothes pin) provide additional strength and rigidity when the pin is in use by reason of their interlocking with the other half of the body when they slide into the recesses 18 as has been previously described.

In assembling a clothes pin, ends 13 are brought together and inserted into sliding lock 24. Projections 27 of the sliding block are pried apart so that these ends 13 can be slid into place. Ends 13 are then separated enough to permit projections 27 to snap between ends 13. Projections 27 will now prevent ends 13 from coming together enough to permit slide lock 24 to slide off of ends 13. Shoulders at both ends of halves 11 and 12 limit the sliding movement of slide 24.

In using a clothes pin, slide 24 is moved to the position shown in FIGURE 3, ends 13 are pressed together and the clothes pin is put in place over the clothes and line. Slide 24 is then slid to the position shown in FIG- URE 1 and holds the halves 11 and 12 in the clothesgripping position.

It is to be understood that this invention of a clothes pin has been illustrated in only one form and that changes and modifications may be made in its configuration and detail construction without affecting the scope and intent of the invention and that all such changes and modifications shall be construed to fall within the spirit and intent of the appended claim.

What I now claim as my invention of a clothes pin that is new is:

A clothes pin comprising a pair of longitudinally elongated members of similar configuration having opposed lower portions forming jaws adapted to grip clothing positioned on a clothes line, and having upper end portions which diverge outwardly from one another and are normally engaged by projections which are opposed to one another and extend inward toward one another and are positioned on upwardly extending lips formed on a slide having a hollow lower portion dimensioned to receive the upper portions of the said members therethrough so that said upper portions may be engaged by said projections to close the said jaws, said members being pivotally interconnected in such a manner that the said upper end portions thereof may rock about the pivot during opening and closing of the jaws, said lips being adapted to be pried apart to facilitate assembly of the slider on the members,

3 said projections being of sufficient length and the upper end portions being dimensioned such that the proj-ectiosn prevent the upper end portions from coming together enough to permit the slider to slide ofi of the ends when the lips are in a normal position between the said end portions, said pivot being such as to prevent longitudinal movement of the members relative to one another.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS France. Germany. Great Britain. Great Britain. Italy.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

D. GRIFFIN, Assistant Examiner. 

